All of the projects are beautiful! I especially love the bullion stiched flowers. I think I will try that stick - making some cherrys on a t-shirt (for myself!! )

Although I still have shopping, gift making, stocking making (my mom uses the same stockings for each of us, and there are three more to be made this year - so I got nominated for the task!) wrapping, parting, etc, etc, etc. So it looks like a last minute December project for me!

Embroidered scarf is ready and I'm really happy about it. Pictures coming some time next week.

I hope nobody minds, but I have to start with next months knitting already. I decided to design a scarf all by myself so I'm mostly doing preparations, knitting swatches and so. I'll leave the actual knitting for January. I'm doing this as the gestimated birth date for my first child is January 5th and I really wish that I could get this scarf done before I become a mother.

Well, with everything going on last month, I completely failed at making a purse last month. But I just finished my embroidery project for this month! I've done some embroidery before, so the craft itself is not something new for me to try, but what I did do that *is* new for me to try is embroidering without a pattern to go by. I've done stuff like blanket stitch and other edging, but I've never tried to embroider freehand on something that needs to look like something at the end So that's what this is, just freehanding as I went along. It's a gift for someone who is a fan of "The Nightmare Before Christmas" and I've had to explain it to several people, but on Craftster, there are tons of NBC fans, so I bet I won't have to explain...

It's on felt, and between the front and back pieces, I inserted a square of the thinner kind of craft foam, just to give it a bit of stability and thickness. I had thought I would stitch a ribbon on the top so it could be hung as holiday decor, but I decided to leave it and let the recipient decide whether she wants to hang it or prop it up on a shelf or whatever. It's about 6 inches across, more or less.

The lettering is 2-strand split stitch. The present is 6-strand raised satin stitch (you put a few running stitches in to fill the shape before you do the satin stitch over it, which makes it sort of 3-D). The toys are sort of like long-and-short stitch, but in a haphazard uneven sort of way, 3-strand.